JOURNAL ISSUE 9

Social Work Theories and Risk: A German Perspective

Birgit Dümmer

Rita Brodwolf

Peter Erath

IUC Dubrovnik: Social work theories and methodologies

In Germany, social work has many different but still equally “valid” theories. This is possible because there are different traditions of social pedagogy and social work, and the hierarchic structure of social policy allows different ways to found and deliver social work.

According to these given facts we would like to outline the handling of risk (risk management) in four common theories of social work in Germany:

Social work in the tradition of humanities.
Social work in the tradition of critical theories.
Social work according to the systemic-proceeding theory (Silvia Staub-Bernasconi).
Social work in the tradition of the system theory (Luhmann).

1. Social work in the tradition of humanities: minimizing risk through professional experience

The hermeneutical knowledge theory assumes that an advanced understanding and interpretation is necessary to fully understand the world, social problems, the situation of clients, etc.

Within this interpretation process (hermeneutic circle), part and whole, pre-knowledge and learning about the subject, and theory and practice, are all within a reciprocal enlightenment relation.

Thus the experienced interpreter (e.g., the social worker) comes to a real and fundamental understanding of a situation or a person.

Within this theory Hermann Nohl builds up social work as pedagogic work concerning relation and interpretation. Aims for social work are based on the client’s physical and mental possibilities to develop.

Tasks of social work within this theory are

Construction of a personal relationship between the social worker and his client. The base of a helping relation is the “pedagogic relation” (päd. Bezug), in which the social worker respects and acknowledges the client as a person (the “pedagogic relation” is autonomous to effects from its environment).
Observation and interpretation of the client’s behavior based on the social worker’s life, professional experience, and knowledge of the client. Within more modern theories such understanding should be based on scientific interpretation of case structures.
Helping by education. According to H. Nohl, help leads clients to become aware of their problems so they can realize and change their behavior. Within this task the social worker has to provide a special “space” of safety and protection (called “Schonraum”), where risks should be lowered (children’s homes, institutions to protect children, families, etc.) and where education could be possible.

Concerning the assessment of risk this means that only the social worker, who is the only person to be aware of the whole situation, can take responsibility for any decision. Given his or her relation to the client, knowledge of the client, and ability and motivation to steer the educational process, only the social worker is fully able to recognize and estimate risks.

Therefore a generally valid program or method to reduce or avoid risk would not fulfill the demand for individual help and the “pedagogic relation,” and has to be rejected. In this perspective the social worker should be autonomous and this autonomy should be granted by the society.

2. Social work in the tradition of the enlightenment (critical theories): allowing and communicating risk within negotiating processes between social worker and client

Hans Thiersch adopts hermeneutic ideas and places them in a critical theory which points out the contradictions of the post-capitalist society. In his theory, the client’s “everyday world” is between “system” and “everyday life,” and therefore social work is in danger of colonizing the “everyday world” as any other system does (if social work functions as an institution).

The duty of the social worker within this perspective is to draw the attention of clients to their problems, combining this effort with a critical reflection on the social causes of individual problems and the connection between individual help and political action. That means social work also has to initiate social changes, for example, by community care, political action and empowerment processes. The social worker, therefore, is the person who analyzes and mediates in the client’s “everyday world” in order to reveal negative trends and speed up developments in the client’s consciousness.

The transfer of the demand to improve the client’s “everyday life” and world to be more successful, combined with the critical reflection of the society and social work itself, is communicative. Hans Thiersch constructs a communicative approach which does not go beyond the function of revealing contradictions in the client’s “everyday life.” Even the process of helping has to be communicated to avoid colonization by social work.

Within this view risk is not something to avoid, but to take, because otherwise there would be no social progress or social change.

Hans Thiersch gives us no specific clues of how to handle risk. It is only the individual social worker who can estimate the risk in a given situation by communicating the risk with the client. To do this appropriately the social worker can’t insure a line of action by any standards, as such standards would only colonize the client’s world and therefore be contra-productive. S/he should always keep only a critical reflection in mind.

3. Social work in a systemic-proceeding perspective (Silvia Staub-Bernasconi): managing risks with ethical and professional values

Systemic-proceeding social work means that anything is in movement, anything is transient and changeable; therefore anything is in process and, moreover, everything existing is integrated in systems and causally connected. In this context, but also in the whole social system, people are confronted with problems of satisfying their needs and problems of fulfilling the requests and desires within their lives. People have to learn to find solutions for those problems within the structure of social systems and through cooperation and conflict with other people. Social work can help find solutions and support people during that process.

Staub-Bernasconi divides problems into four different categories: problems of equipment, communication, power and criterions, all of which can either appear isolated or in combination with any of the other(s). Systemic-proceeding social work is a position that sees the entirety of the situation and demands the social worker’s entire personality.

According to this, social work is positioned in sectors where social problems accumulate, i.e. the social periphery. Social work finds itself in a field of tensions (individual vs. social values); on the one hand it aims at individual satisfaction of needs, but on the other hand it also aims at a fair proportion between the rights and duties of individuals and social groups, as well as a just proportion of power. These are all conditions of social peace.

While belonging to a profession which is oriented towards human-rights (according to Staub-Bernasconi’s position), each social worker always has to be aware of personal and social values and therefore must deal carefully with risk and protect the weak. Beyond this, she gives social work no clear or methodical advice concerning risk assessment and management.

4. Social work in the tradition of system theory (Luhmann) : standardizing risk assessment and risk management procedures

Based on Niklas Luhmann’s system theory, Baecker demands a system of social aid in which social work would be an autonomous functional system. Baecker builds up the code of “help” and “non-help“, which separates the system of social aid from other systems, and at the same time allows internal communication.

Programs are necessary to distinguish what is a case of “help” and what is a case of “non-help”. The decision of “help" or “non-help" is made by the profession of social work, not because of a given situation but because of given programs or standards. By doing so, the function and duty of social work can become more efficient and professional.

From this position it is possible to define concise regulations about how to deal with risk, for example to define clear, research-based criteria for assessment and intervention in difficult situations.

As there is no strong commitment towards social work research in Germany yet, there are presently hardly any developed and clear procedures of how to manage risk in difficult situations. .There is, however, an increasing awareness of the necessity to develop and discuss this subject in future.

Until the end of the 80s, social work in Germany was acting within the hermeneutical, critical and system-proceeding traditions. There was enough funding and society respected social work as an autonomous profession. Taking natural risks, as well as possible risks within helping processes, was acceptable. Currently, money is lacking and questions about the legitimacy, effectiveness and transparency of social work are appearing in society. Because of this, more rational theories like the systemic theory are gaining importance. As social work in Germany is increasingly considered to be a function of the modern welfare state, which has to guarantee the individual rights of its members, it is more and more challenged to develop clear criteria for its procedures and interventions, including possible risks and dangers. However, the classical theories (which we should not forget) tell us that if social workers are only aware of their social function and don’t dare to take risk at all, they will no longer be able to stand up to their ethical and critical commitment to support the individual not only for, but also against society.

Previous Chapter Chapter n4: Human Rights Next Chapter

Joseph Wronka & Silvia Staub Bernasconi

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Wronka, J. & Bernasconi, S. (2012). Human rights. In K. LyonsT. Hokenstad & M. Pawar The SAGE handbook of international social work (pp. 70-84). London: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: 10.4135/9781446247594.n4

Wronka, Joseph and Silvia Staub Bernasconi. "Human Rights." In The SAGE Handbook of International Social Work, 70-84. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2012. doi: 10.4135/9781446247594.n4.

Wronka, J & Bernasconi, S 2012, 'Human rights', in The sage handbook of international social work, SAGE Publications Ltd, London, pp. 70-84, viewed 13 December 2017, doi: 10.4135/9781446247594.n4.

Wronka, Joseph and Silvia Staub Bernasconi. "Human Rights." The SAGE Handbook of International Social Work. Karen LyonsTerry Hokenstad and Manohar Pawar. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2012. 70-84. SAGE Knowledge. Web. 13 Dec. 2017, doi: 10.4135/9781446247594.n4.

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This chapter approaches the issue of human rights by first emphasising that social work from its inception has been called a ‘human rights profession'. It then examines major United Nations (UN) human rights documents and institutional mechanisms that could assist in creating a socially just world, ultimately a global human rights culture, defined as a lived awareness of human rights principles in one's mind and heart, and dragged into the everyday life (Wronka, 2008, see Appendix 5). It then elaborates upon the importance of integrating human rights into social work theory and praxis, enlarging among other things social work's double mandate of the client and society, to include the profession itself.

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Wronka, Joseph and Silvia Staub Bernasconi. "Human Rights." In The SAGE Handbook of International Social Work, 70-84. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2012. doi: 10.4135/9781446247594.n4.

Wronka, J & Bernasconi, S 2012, 'Human rights', in The sage handbook of international social work, SAGE Publications Ltd, London, pp. 70-84, viewed 13 December 2017, doi: 10.4135/9781446247594.n4.

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Soziale Arbeit als Handlungswissenschaft : systemtheoretische Grundlagen und professionelle Praxis - ein Lehrbuch

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Work in Progress: Social Work, the State and Europe

Social work has had varying relationships with the nation state both over time and between different countries. From its early stages the occupation had both state sanctioned and voluntary streams. Its international dimension has been enhanced in the European context through policy and funding measures over the past few decades.

During this period we have also seen the rise of globalising trends leading to questions about the ongoing powers of nation states. This paper examines some aspects of the relationship between social work and the state, taking into account the emergence of European and also international policies and frameworks.

The paper focuses initially on migration as an example of a common trend; an area of policy with both national and European dimensions; and a field in which social professionals are engaged to varying degrees. Secondly, it considers the progress of the ‘professional project’ in Europe, using developments in five countries to illustrate some of the issues associated with ‘professionalization’. European and international frameworks may lead to some convergence in national understandings of the key roles of social workers and an enhanced sense of professional identity across nation states, despite very different starting points and current forms of organisation.

Introduction

Social work has had varying relationships with the nation state both over time and between different countries. From its early stages the occupation had both state sanctioned and voluntary streams. It also had an international dimension (Lyons 1999; Healy 2001) and the international, or perhaps more appropriately the regional, dimension of social work development has been stimulated over the last two decades or so, notably by the policies of the European Union. This has been specifically through its ERASMUS/ SOCRATES schemes, and more generally through wider policies aimed at social integration and harmonisation of national welfare policies (broadly defined) (Cannan et al 1992; Lorenz 2006). During this period we have also seen the rise of globalising trends giving rise to questions about the ongoing powers of nation states (Held et al 1999). This paper examines some aspects of the relationship between social work and the state, taking into account the emergence of European and also international policies and frameworks.

Initially, it might be useful to consider some of the common trends in Europe, focusing particularly on the issue of migration. Population movement is intrinsically linked to ideas about citizenship, personal and national culture and identity, and the resources available for the development of national economies (Lorenz 2006). However, the regulation of immigration has been a closely guarded competence of nation states and, although international human rights conventions ‘allow’ people to leave countries, the right of entry - and the status to be accorded to such immigrants - remains primarily the concern of the state. The European Union has begun to exert some influence in this field since the mid nineties (Ginsburg and Lawrence 2006) and patterns of migration within the European region (which I here limit to the 27 countries in membership of the EU in 2007) have also changed. Migration invariably leads to the more or less permanent establishment of minority populations illustrating varying degrees of ‘integration’ with host populations: the process of migration itself, in its various forms, can be stressful. Both long established and recently arrived groups might therefore be subject to intervention by social professionals, either at the behest of the state or through voluntary channels.

Secondly, I will examine some of the ways in which policies and processes at national levels have tended to encourage or limit the roles of social workers, including through the establishment of regulatory codes. Drawing on accounts of social work in selected European countries, I indicate how national frameworks are shaping the social work profession and speculate on the extent to which European policies and principles articulated at international level might be leading to some convergence. However, there is also evidence of very different starting points and contexts in which the occupation has developed in individual nation states and that these continue to affect current patterns of social services provision, social work roles and education.

The idea of a ‘social work project’ – an intention to develop an occupational field that is publicly recognised as a profession (Macdonald 1995) - is over a hundred years old with roots in various countries on both sides of the Atlantic. It tends to have been seen as a national project, but some exponents would want to see this project strengthened at the level of continental regions and globally and there is some evidence that this is happening. I would state here that the goal of such a project should not be one of professional aggrandisement but rather be aimed at strengthening the ability of social work to identify (from its interventions in the lives of individuals and communities) and then to articulate and critique, the adverse effects of social policies and regional and global processes on people who are routinely excluded or marginalised in terms of economic and political power. In this sense social work has a dual mandate – both to respond to the ‘private ills’ of individuals and communities and also to make or enable representations in public forums to redress them. This can be a difficult and uncomfortable role for individual workers and agencies, and indeed for the occupation as a whole, and perhaps goes some way to explaining why the designation of ‘profession’ is resisted by some (both within and outside the occupation) and not widely accepted in wider professional and public circles.

The European context with particular reference to migration

Within the wider trends towards globalisation of economies, political ambitions and cultures – which themselves frame national welfare efforts and thus the roles of social workers (Lorenz 2006; Lyons et al 2006) - we can identify a number of social trends across the range of European states which provide the context for the work of social professionals. These include, fundamentally, the deepening of the divide between the haves and have-nots and the inter-related problems of social dislocation reflected in individual and family breakdown, substance abuse and crime. Such social problems are interwoven with demographic trends related to the increasing age profile of countries across Europe, compounded, in some states, by the decline in the birth rate. The picture is further complicated by the impact of migration. Whereas mobility of labour has generally been promoted within the European Union, the wish to exclude those who are not members of this ‘club’ has intensified as social divisions and demands on welfare systems and concerns about ‘national identity’ have increased.

While the origins of the EU were rooted in economic and political concerns about stability at regional level, policy development in its later stages has included the recognition that stability also requires social measures and development of cultural symbols and identities which support the idea of a European region in additions to national loyalties. Since the early 1990s the development of social policy has included measures to address social exclusion (Steinert and Pilgram 2003). This has been accompanied by the recognition that minority groups (identified by different nationality, race, ethnicity, language and/or culture) are among those people who are likely to be marginalised. However, relatively limited efforts at European level (and rather variable attempts nationally) to combat racism and xenophobia have been paralleled by tighter immigration and border controls at both European and national levels (Mitchell and Russell 1998; Mynott 2002).

Trends in migration and current patterns of settlement are complex and reflect different characteristics related to the histories of different countries (particularly in terms of colonial relationships) as well as more recent geo-political and economic pressures (Castles 2000; Lyons et al 2006) . Thus we can observe the presence of settled (and long established) minority ethnic groups related to the colonial histories of countries (such as France and UK) and also their post war labour and immigration policies (as in Germany and UK); the concentration and settlement of formerly migrant groups (such as ‘the travellers’ in Ireland and the Roma population in the Czech Republic or Hungary); and the changing position of countries as to whether they are ‘sending’ or ‘receiving’ countries (Greece and Ireland). In the case of Greece, its proximity to the Balkan region has resulted in immigration of people fleeing conflict and economic destruction putting additional pressures on a weak welfare system. In contrast, Ireland shows more direct benefits of European Social Fund measures (aimed at addressing poverty) which, combined with a motivated and well educated population, has enabled the country to develop a modern buoyant economy, retaining its own workforce and attracting others.

Thus, some of the more recent examples of immigration have been a direct result of the ‘pull’ of expanding or stable economies (such as migrants from Poland and the Baltic States to Ireland the UK) and have come within the aims of ‘free movement’ advocated by the European Union. However, even this policy has suffered a reverse at national levels, with many of the fifteen member states which made up the European Union until 2004 placing limits on the number or timing of entry of people from the accession states (predominantly those in Central and Eastern Europe), a policy recently intensified with the addition of Bulgaria and Romania (from 1/1/07). Reasons for such moves tend to be expressed as concerns about the ‘flooding’ of national economies with ‘cheap labour’. However, we can also identify a wish by sending countries to build up their own economies (which can be held back by the migration of often young and better educated/more skilled members of the workforce) and to avoid the social problems associated with families being divided when a breadwinner seeks work abroad – both being unintended consequences of migration from countries such as Poland and Lithuania in the post 2004 era (personal communications).

But there are other reasons also for the nervousness with which national politicians – and populations – have viewed accession of Bulgaria and Romania, in particular, and these are almost certainly related to cultural characteristics and actual or stereotypical concerns about governance and criminality. Corruption at government levels is hardly confined to the Balkan states (and other countries regarded as ‘less developed’) but clearly there have been issues in this area which required attention prior to admission. There are also differentials in the extent to which civil society has developed and the capacity of individuals and communities to take an active role in monitoring new institutions and/or establishing new agencies, including those which might provide social services to supplement those of the overstretched local and central state (Hermoso and Luca 2006).

Additionally, these countries form part of a ‘corridor’ through which there has been an increase in people smuggling and trafficking. While there are global (inter-continental) aspects to this ‘trade’, it also has a strong intra-European dimension as young women and under-age youth have been transported from East European countries (including Russia and Ukraine ) into the EU (Lyons et al 2006). Criminal gangs based in these countries are also implicated in the trafficking of drugs which find ready markets in the wealthy countries of Western Europe. It can be argued that, in the face of such concerns, it is better to have bordering countries ‘on side’ and subject to the same controls and forms of monitoring as other states within the European Union. This is an area in which national policies are largely ineffective unless combined with regional agreement about policies and participation in European wide or international bodies aimed at addressing the problem.

It can be suggested that concerns about the ‘governability’ of particular populations is important in the establishment and current roles of the social professions, from its origins roughly a hundred years ago in many countries across Europe and anew in the post 1989 period in Central and East European countries. The populations now labelled as ‘vulnerable’ – or, more harshly, as presenting risks to the stability of society - were initially identified on a class basis related to socio-economic position and to some extent this is still the case. But increasingly, as indicated, identification is related to culture in the sense of ethnicity, when outward signs of difference give rise to discrimination, compounding other factors leading to the limited employment opportunities which are often the corollary of immigrant status.

Thus, despite the often altruistic intentions of social professionals, individually and collectively, they have found themselves being increasingly drawn into forms of social work which emphasise their control role (Cohen et al 2002) – in a diverse profession which is itself increasingly controlled in some countries. We shall return to some consideration of control of the profession in the next section but meanwhile, what have been the recent responses of social work to the needs or challenges posed by minority ethnic groups? The development of services which are either specifically targeted at minority groups, or which recognise difference in the context of services aimed at whole populations, are generally related to varied national attitudes to immigrants and the extent to which efforts have been made (in policy and legislative terms) to recognise rights and responsibilities of minority populations, such as through policies aimed at promoting multi-culturalism and equality.

Accordingly, we can identify the development of culturally appropriate services for established adult populations (for example, in relation to elders or people with mental health problems) in countries such as the Netherlands and UK; work with youth from minority communities; efforts to challenge public attitudes and facilitate integration of Roma people in the Czech Republic and Hungary; and the development of services for new minority user groups, including asylum seekers (e.g. in Sweden, the Netherlands; Germany, Greece and the UK) (Lyons et al 2006).

Recently, migration has also opened up the possibilities of an increase in cross-national social work, for example in arranging substitute care for children through fostering and adoption (Selman 1998; Garrett and Sinkkinen 2003). As extended families have been split up, sometimes across national borders, so efforts to foster children with other family members require locating relatives in other countries and assessing the possibility for resettling children with relations who are distant in geographic if not kinship terms (Lyons 2006). Similarly, in the field of adoption, an earlier pre-occupation (in the UK) with ‘same race placement’ has led into consideration of a similar principle being one of the factors in the adoption of babies and young children so that, for instance, a childless Polish couple living in the UK is likely to be considered for adoption of a baby from Poland rather than a British child (personal communication).

This current preoccupation (by some)with ‘matching’ children to the racial, ethnic or national background of parents can also to be viewed against the growing numbers of children born into ‘mixed marriages’ who, in addition to the possibility of holding dual nationality, are seen as having a dual heritage and needing to create their own version of cultural identity. Whereas children of dual heritage are less likely to become the subjects of social work intervention (or may only become so as the result of marital breakdown and/or conflicts over parenting rights), in the case of substitute care, efforts are needed to ensure adherence to international and European conventions about the rights of the child together with increased comparative knowledge about childcare polices and practices and acquisition of possibly new skills, such as working through an interpreter (Kornbeck 2003)

However, developments in relation to trans-national work and service developments aimed at newer immigrant communities in particular are increasingly being established or maintained within the context of the tightening of legislative controls. In some countries, such as the UK, these are posing problems not just for the immigrants themselves (who may be identified by the media and public as (bogus) ‘asylum seekers’ or illegal immigrants) but also for social workers, who are increasingly expected to police eligibility for services (Cohen et al, 2002). Efforts to influence policy by social professionals themselves have been muted (Briskman and Cemlyn 2005) and a number of possible reasons can be suggested. It may be that there is a degree of personal and professional ambivalence about (national) immigration policies; many social workers do not see this area of work as a particular responsibility; or social workers may lack power or skills in relation to voicing concerns publicly about the situation of particular individuals and minority groups or developing critiques of national and international immigration policies.

It is possible that in some countries this reticence reflects expectations by policy makers and public alike of social professionals that do not include critical reflection or social action (not withstanding strands in the profession’s origins related to social reform) and this may be reflected in the type of education provided. But it may also be the case that increasing measures introduced over the last decade to bureaucratise and ensure accountability in social work have undermined professional confidence and have stifled individual or, perhaps more importantly, collective reactions and initiatives. It is also the case that there has been a relative increase in the numbers of social workers seeking work in other countries and, although labour mobility in this field is small relative to some occupations, this raises questions about the education and regulation of social professionals, given the particular roles which they are expected to fulfil in specific countries. The next section therefore focuses on issues of public expectations, education, and regulation of the profession in selected European countries.

Educating and regulating the Profession

As signalled earlier, one aim of this paper is to consider issues in relation to social work’s periodic attempts to achieve professional status and to view such developments against the backdrop of the relationship with the state and the growth of social concerns evident across Europe. Weiss and Welbourne (2007) recently used a framework which combined trait and power theories (prevalent in the literature about professions, see Macdonald 1995) to compare the position of social work in ten countries across the world. Five of these are in the European Union and it is possible to illustrate various aspects of ‘professionalisation’ with examples from Germany, Hungary, Spain, Sweden and UK. These countries in turn are illustrative of very different histories, traditions, and more recent political and economic circumstances and the examples described by national authors illustrate the complexities of professional development even within one region. While the framework utilised by Weiss and Welbourne elaborated eight factors, I propose to discuss these in terms of three major themes:

public recognition, state sanction and relation to other professions;

education, including control of entry to the profession and creation of distinct knowledge;

professional organisation, including ethical standards and regulation.

Public recognition, state sanction and relation to other professions

It is commonly agreed that social work is an organised response to the ills of society although the extent to which its development in various forms has been initiated or sustained by the state varies. Commonly, state led services were established in fields where social control was the primary goal while services which were more concerned with care and rehabilitation tended to derive from volunteer efforts. These patterns still prevail in many parts of Europe, although the organisational boundaries of such services may have shifted over time and variations between countries reflect the particular political and economic ideologies which have shaped broader national welfare systems (Littlechild et al 2005; Lorenz 2006). Specific examples of the variations in public recognition and state sanction are evident in Weiss and Welbourne (2007).

In Sweden 90% of its estimated 30,000 social workers (3 per 100,000 of the population) are employed in state organisations, namely social service centres, which aim to offer a generic range of services (including basic financial support) on a relatively universal basis. These are for the most part quite well regarded by the public at large and recognised as offering a distinctive service. However, for all this integration into state apparatus, the profession is not yet formally regulated (licensed) by the state (despite representations by the profession). While there is healthy recruitment to social work education and employment prospects are relatively secure, salaries tend to be lower than others working in related fields (or even the same settings), such as psychologists and nurses (Hessle 2007).

The UK (where there was similarly strong support for the welfare state until relatively recently) also has a high a proportion of workers employed in public authorities (about 43,000 social workers) and previous studies suggested that about 80% of new entrants went into the statutory services (Lyons and Manion 2004). However, there has been a recent ‘splitting up’ of previously distinct social service departments into services for children and families (under the auspices of education departments) and those for adults (under the broad remit of health care). This follows a period of concern (over approximately two decades) about the quality of services, particularly in relation to child protection work, and a strong association in the public mind of social work with this area of practice relative to other roles and fields of social work. Other areas of ‘social work’ utilising more preventive or proactive strategies have already been ‘hived off’ to programmes not necessarily staffed by social workers (such as ‘Sure Start’ concerned with support for pre-school children and their families) so that the extent of any previously assumed monopoly on skills or services has been undermined. The most recent developments also raise questions about the extent to which the contribution of social workers in wider departments or multi-disciplinary teams will be visible or seen as distinctive, although it seems as if responsibility for child protection work will continue to be a core and distinct activity (Payne 2007).

Spain, in contrast, has had a very different history to both the foregoing countries: civil war in 1936-9 led to the dominance of fascism in the post second world war period until 1978 limiting the role of the state in development of welfare. However, since that time, social work has become a well established profession, with up to 80% of personnel employed in municipal services. In 2004 one professional organisation suggested that there are around 42,000 social workers (about 4.4 per 100,000) and relatively large numbers are also employed in third sector organisations, although use of volunteers and no national restriction on use of the term ‘social worker’ complicates the picture and may obscure public understanding of the social work role. Some social workers may work in interdisciplinary teams and salary levels are comparable with those of teachers and nurses (Charfolet 2007).

The high levels of employment in state run services in Sweden, the UK and Spain can be contrasted with the situations in Germany and Hungary. Germany constitutes an important example of a corporate state which adheres strongly to the principle of ‘subsidiarity’ (Cannan et al 1992; Lorenz 2006). Thus the majority of its 300,000 personnel qualified as social workers or social pedagogues are employed in one of the ‘Big Six’ welfare organisations (although a minority are also employed direct by the ‘lander’ or by smaller independent organisations). While the large and long established voluntary organisations receive significant funding from the state and some functions of social workers are prescribed by legislation and directives, they have a relatively high degree of independence but the roles of social professionals may achieve limited public recognition, due to the fragmentation of their employment bases and lack of central regulation. Despite an expansion in jobs and education since 2000, the status of social workers remains uncertain and a fairly high degree of unemployment among social professionals has kept salary levels relatively low (Staub-Bernasconi 2007).

As one of the countries redeveloping the social services sector since 1989, Hungary presents a different picture again. Apart from the growth of social work education, there was significant legislation in the 1990s relevant to the role of social workers. However, the actual development of municipal social services has been patchy and the period has seen the re-emergence of a number of agencies in the voluntary sector. But, apart from the problems of funding which beset both sectors, problems persist in relation to the qualifications and identity of personnel. For instance, of 2,756 ‘social workers’ employed in Family Support Centres in 2003 about half were not qualified as social workers (though some may hold other professional qualifications). In 2000 the state introduced legislation requiring all managers and professionals working in social services to undertake a short training and pass a Basic Exam relevant to social professions, but there is as yet no formal restriction on use of the term, ‘social worker’, and there is relatively limited public understanding of their role. This has contributed to limited prestige and remuneration, including when compared with professionals in related fields (Darvas and Kozma 2007).

Education, entry to the profession and creation of distinct knowledge

Given the above and other factors, it is hardly surprising that there are also differences in the histories, patterns and pre-occupations of social work education, although it would be fair to say, that, with the current exception of Hungary, a qualification from an approved social work education course is likely to be an important, if not essential, factor in gaining employment in a social work post in these countries. It can therefore be suggested that steady progress has been made towards the position of social work having control over entry to the profession through the educational process, although this control may not be exclusive. So, for instance in the case of the UK, the Care Standards Act in 2000 led to the establishment of four country specific and government sponsored Social Care Councils and since 1/4/05 the General Social Care Council in England has required registration by all qualified social workers who wish to gain employment in a social work post (Payne 2007).

There is relatively limited agreement about the creation of knowledge. Debates about whether there is a distinct body of knowledge, what this might be and how it might be taught and assessed are current in most European countries (Lyons and Lawrence 2006). In relation to the five country case studies, Staub-Bernasconi (2007) has suggested that there is a strong concern with ‘know how’ in Germany and this preoccupation (including an emphasis on competencies) would certainly be recognised in the UK, and also apparently in Spain (Charfolet 2007). However, Staub-Bernasconi also refers to the influence of philosophy on much social work education and a concern with theory in some German courses – aspects which would be less apparent in the UK or, in the case of theory and methodology are apparently ‘under development’ in Hungary and Spain.

Hessle suggests that Swedish social work education is well rooted in a social sciences framework and that similar curricula in the country’s 16 schools of social work would draw on teaching from established social science disciplines as well as having a distinct and recognisable core. He describes this as concerned with social investigations and psychosocial work in relation to vulnerable populations, a view likely to be shared by commentators in other countries. Despite this situation in Sweden, the government has resisted calls for registration of social workers, partly on the grounds that social work in different sectors lacks a shared theoretical base (Hessle 2007).

Darvas and Kozma (2007) indicate that a common curriculum has been established in Hungary but that courses can develop their own specialisations: this is partly related to the status attributed to universities as regional resource centres, undertaking research into local issues which are then reflected in the higher education on offer. The UK took a different approach to the identification of a core curriculum, choosing instead (between 1989 and 2003) to specify the outcomes (competences) which should be achieved. However, this did have the effect of producing a high degree of similarity between curricula, although the introduction of new degree programmes (since 2003, under a different regulatory framework) allows for the possibility of slightly more variation. Germany in contrast, due to devolution of the higher education function to the Bundesland, shows considerable variations in curricula between regions (Staub-Bernasconi 2007). However, all five countries share the characteristics of social work education being undertaken predominantly at undergraduate level (mainly by female students) and aiming to produce social workers equipped for generic practice.

Just as there are some variations between countries in the emphases and curricula of qualifying education, there are perhaps greater disparities in the opportunities for research and post-qualifying qualifications. It could be argued that Sweden currently has the best developed opportunities for learning about and pursuing social work research (including at the doctoral level) while the doctoral route, for instance, is not yet open to social workers in Spain (other than through other disciplines) and only in the early stages of development in Hungary. In the UK, while the opportunity to undertake such research has existed for some time, there is a sense that a PhD is not a valued qualification in the profession as a whole (Lyons 2002) and, in contrast, more effort has been put into developing a post-qualifying framework which addresses the need for continuous professional development of social workers.

PhD opportunities have had implications for the staffing of social work education and two patterns can be observed. In the UK (and perhaps to a some extent Sweden), there was an initial emphasis on recruiting educators with a social work background, even if they lacked the higher academic qualifications usual in academic appointments – a situation which is now changing in both countries. However, in countries where there have been discontinuities in social work education due to conflict and/or political ideology (Germany, Spain and Hungary) it was common for social work initially to be offered on courses taught by people from related professions and disciplines with opportunities to recruit from the profession itself only arising as the profession re-establishes itself. However, in a separate study, Kornbeck (2007) has suggested that social work academics in Germany are more likely to hold a PhD than in Denmark or England. This may be related to quite a long established tradition of training social pedagogues in the University sector and there may also be a gender factor, suggesting an area for further exploration.

Professional organisations, ethical standards and regulation

It can be argued that one indicator of the strength and /or ambitions of an occupational group is the formation of professional associations and the range of functions which such associations might undertake, including the establishment of ethical guidelines. Again, we can see both similarities and variations in the progress made in this area by the five countries studied. All the professional associations now in evidence originated in the second half of the 20th century, with the Swedish Association of Graduates in Social Science, Personnel and Public Administrators, Economics and Social Work (SSR) having been established in 1958. The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) was established in 1970, although it represented the coming together of about half a dozen pre-existing organisations, dating from the first half of the 20 th century (Payne 2002). In contrast, area based professional associations in Spain have only had legal status since 1988; the German association was established in 1993 (but based on previous associations); and the Alliance of Social Professionals (representing three different professional associations) (3Sz) was established in Hungary in 1995 (receiving status as a public interest organisation in 2001).

But the establishment of professional associations primarily constitute voluntary efforts: not all social workers choose to join and there may be other associations relevant to particular constituencies. (For instance, this is generally the case in relation to social work educators). Nor is the date of the establishment of a particular association necessarily indicative of its numerical strength or its relationship with the state or influence in other respects. So, for instance, the SSR in Sweden is unusual in having about 80% representation of social workers (Hessle 2007), but this high number may be partly explained by the fact that, in common with some other Nordic countries, this association also has the functions of a Trade Union (and unions have generally been recognised as having a part to play in the development of the economy and the maintenance of the social contract). In contrast it seems likely that only about 20% of social workers in the UK choose to join BASW (Payne 2007). In the past it was suggested that this low number was related to the fact that the majority of social workers worked for local authorities and chose to join the relevant trade union instead. More recently the requirement to pay a registration fee to the General Social Care Council now suggests a competing claim for social workers’ financial resources.

In Germany it is estimated that only about 6% of the professional workforce join the national professional organisation, DBSH (Deutscher Berufsverband für Sozialarbeit, Sozialpädagogik und Heilpädagogik) (Staub-Bernasconi 2007) although there is no indication as to why this figure might be so low. No estimates are given for membership of the Hungarian and Spanish associations, although in Spain social workers are represented through 36 territorial professional associations each with their own statutes (approved by a regional General Assembly and then by the National Council and published in government records) (Charfolet 2007). This suggests a locally based form of organisation which, together with the relatively high number of social workers employed in the public sector, might be successful in recruiting a higher proportion of social workers.

There is also variation in the extent to which professional associations make any efforts to regulate the profession. In Sweden, the SSR established self regulated authorisation in 1998: applicants must have a relevant degree, three years documented experience (including supervision) plus the written endorsement of senior advisors affirming competence to practice. By 2005, 3000 people had been authorised by a commission elected by the board of SSR, which can also consider cases of exclusion or denial (Hessle 2007). This can be contrasted with the situation in the UK where the main role of BASW was to combine with other bodies arguing for a state approved licensing system, established early this century, as mentioned above.

Whatever the level of representation and influence, all the associations identified in this study have been instrumental in drawing up ethical guidelines for the profession although, again, the status of these is highly variable. The British Association’s Code of Ethics was initially produced in 1975 (although it was substantially revised in 2002) but, although this is likely to be referred to on many social work courses, it has been difficult in practice to ensure adherence to this code, particularly beyond the limited membership of the association. In addition, registered social workers are now bound by a Code of Practice introduced by the GSCC in 2002 and this body has clear responsibilities for disciplinary action in the case of non-compliance (Payne 2007). This can be contrasted with the position in Germany where Staub-Bernasconi (2007) noted that, despite the establishment of ethical principals in the early 1990s, it seems likely that many social workers would not be aware of them.

In the other three countries, ethical guidelines were also established in the 1990s and some of the authors make direct reference to the existence of the Guidelines issued by the International Federation of Social Workers in 1994 (revised 2004). In Hungary, in 1995 the founders of the Alliance of Social Professionals produced an Ethical Code of Social Work (current version approved 2004): new graduates are required to swear allegiance and new employees must sign a declaration of adherence. There is also an Ethical College which can hold inquiries to consider violations (Darvas and Kosma 2007). In Spain the 1999 Code of Ethics was used to outline the functions of social workers: the association subsequently accepted the international code agreed in 2004.

Although there are no formal sanctions against non-observance, the area based professional associations can operate sanctions and can authorise expulsion or deprive members of their status for up to two years (Charfolet 2007).

Concluding comments

When viewed from a comparative perspective, the picture of social work in Europe still presents many variations, not least in its relationship with the nation state in terms of its mandate, organisation, and regulation. These formal aspects interact with public and professional expectations of the roles that social workers might perform and the education needed for such roles. Notwithstanding increased European and international frameworks; welfare policies influenced by neo-liberal economic thinking; some recognition of social problems which are common or trans-national and even indications of mobility of social workers themselves (Lyons and Littlechild 2006), it seems as if nation states - and the particular histories and cultures associated with them - still have a significant bearing on the distribution of social services between public and independent sectors and the roles expected of social workers.

With regard to roles, there are differences in the extent to which social workers are mainly engaged in face to face work with clients or more involved in care management and their part in the wider planning and policy making process. There are differences in the approaches taken to developing services for activities which might be regarded as core, such as child protection work, relative to activities in more marginal areas, such as with immigrants and asylum seekers. While there seems to be a shared acknowledgement within the profession about the role of social workers in promoting equality and human rights – based on adherence to the ethical principles articulated by IFSW – how these goals are pursued in practice is contingent on national circumstances and policies, as well as public attitudes.

One of the major differences seems to be in the strength and confidence of the profession itself in different countries. Thus, while there seems to be a common attempt at ‘professionalisation’ - and each of the countries discussed has a professional association with ethical guidelines - the extent to which the state supports, directs or regulates social work activities is quite variable and common themes of fragmentation and deprofessionalisation occur in discourses relating to social work in countries such as Germany and the UK, which on some indicators show many differences (Staub-Bernasconi 2007; Payne 2007).

In relation to education, there is some speculation that implementation of new national frameworks to accord with the Bologna declaration (aiming to establish a common European University Area by 2010) will impact on education for social workers (Lyons and Lawrence 2006). Similarly, the establishment of an international definition of the occupation, together with a document describing global standards for education many also lead to increased similarity between courses and qualifications. The issue of comparability of qualifications has certainly been a factor in the profession’s efforts internationally and in the European region to regulate itself in the face of extant or likely mobility of labour within the European Union. However, there are already indications that a previously noted trend in the UK of an increase in recruitment of social workers from abroad might have been reversed by the introduction of state regulation of the profession in the form of requiring a licence to practice. This does not exclude the possibility of qualified staff from other EU countries (and elsewhere) working in the UK, but it can be a disincentive by increasing the cost and time needed to secure employment (personal communication).

In conclusion, the evidence for decline of the nation state in relation to welfare services and social work can be questioned – and an argument that there are indications of convergence in social work in Europe is debateable. In a period when issues of personal identity and national culture are part of professional and public discourses, the development of the social work project and the establishment of a European professional identity still require further work.

References

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Kornbeck, J. (ed.) 2003: Language Teaching in the Social Work Curriculum. Mainz: Logophone.

Kornbeck, J. 2007: Social Work Academics as Humboldtian Researcher-Educators: Discussion of a Survey of Staff Profiles from Schools in Denmark, England and Germany, in: Social Work Education, 1, pp.86-100.

Littlechild, B., Erath, P. and Keller, J. (eds.) 2005: De- and Reconstruction in European Social Work. Stassfurt: ISIS.

Lorenz, W. 2006: Perspectives on European Social Work – from the Birth of the Nation State to the impact of Globalisation. Opladen: Barbara Budrich Publishers.

Lyons, K. 2002: Researching Social Work: Doctoral work in the UK, in: Social Work Education, 3, pp.337-46.

Lyons, K. 2006: Globalisation and Social Work: international and local implications, in: British Journal of Social Work, 3, pp.365-80.

Lyons, K. and Lawrence, S. (eds.) 2006: Social Work in Europe: educating for change. Birmingham: IASSW, Venture Press.

Lyons, K. and Littlechild, B. (eds.) 2006: International Labour Mobility in Social Work, BASW Monograph. Birmingham: Venture Press.

Lyons, K. and Manion, H. K. 2004: Goodbye DipSW: Trends in Student Satisfaction and Employment Outcomes, in: Social Work Education, 2, pp.133-48.

Lyons, K., Manion, K. and Carlsen, M. 2006: International Perspectives on Social Work: global conditions and local practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Macdonald, K. 1995: The Sociology of the Professions. London: Sage.

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Payne, M. 2005: The Origins of Social Work: continuity and change. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Payne, M. 2007: United Kingdom, in: Weiss, I. and Welbourne, P. (eds.): Social Work as a Profession- a comparative cross-national perspective. Birmingham: IASSW/Venture Press.

Selman, P. 1998: Intercountry adoption in Europe after the Hague Convention, in: Sykes, R. and Alcock, P. (eds.): Developments in European Social Policy: convergence and diversity. Bristol: Policy Press.

Staub-Bernasconi, S. 2007: Germany, in: Weiss, I. and Welbourne, P. (eds.): Social Work as a Profession- a comparative cross-national perspective. Birmingham: IASSW/Venture Press.

Steinert, H. and Pilgram, A. 2003: Welfare Policy from Below: struggles against social exclusion in Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate.

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Liebe, Macht und Erkenntnis : Silvia Staub-Bernasconi und das Spannungsfeld Soziale Arbeit

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Soziale Arbeit als Handlungswissenschaft

Silvia Staub-Bernasconi

Zusammenfassung

Um sich über den Stand der Disziplin ins Bild zu setzen, dürfte es angemessen sein, sich an einem Qualifikationsrahmen Soziale Arbeit (QR SArb, 2006) zu orientieren, der im Rahmen des Bolognaprozesses entstanden ist. Er dürfte im Hinblick auf Akkreditierungsverfahren den Takt angeben.

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Systemtheorien im Vergleich

Was leisten Systemtheorien für die Soziale Arbeit? Versuch eines Dialogs

Editors: Hollstein-Brinkmann, Heino, Staub Bernasconi, Silvia (Hrsg.)

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Die Autorinnen und Autoren erarbeiten verschiedene systemtheoretisch-paradigmatische Zugänge zu einer Theorie Sozialer Arbeit. Anhand zentraler Kategorien zu theoretischen Voraussetzungen und handlungstheoretischen Implikationen entsteht eine Vergleichsanalyse unter der Fragestellung, was Systemtheorien für die Soziale Arbeit leisten können.

Dr. Heino Hollstein-Brinkmann, Professor für Sozialarbeitswissenschaft an der Evangelischen Fachhochschule Darmstadt;

Dr. Silvia Staub-Bernasconi, Professorin für Soziale Arbeit und Menschenrechte an der Technischen Universität Berlin (1997 - 2003); am Departement für Sozialarbeit und Sozialpolitik der Universität Freiburg/CH; seit 2002 wissenschaftliche Leitung und Dozentin im Master of Social Work - Soziale Arbeit und Menschenrechte in Berlin

"[. ] der hier vorgelegte Vergleich der Systemtheorien [ist] nicht nut für die weitere Entwicklung der Sozialarbeitswissenschaft ein großer lesenswerter Beitrag, sondern zeigt vor allem den Praktikern Sozialer Arbeit auf, dass ein professionelles Handeln auf theoretische Konzepte angewiesen ist und die Aussage, systemisch zu arbeiten, eine inhaltliche Ausgestaltung braucht." Kontext - Zeitschrift für Systemische Therapie und Familientherapie, 03/2007

Table of contents (12 chapters)

Systemtheorien im Vergleich

Möglichkeiten des interparadigmatischen Vergleichs

Fragen an die Referenten und Referentinnen der Tagung „Systemtheorien im Vergleich“

Hollstein-Brinkmann, Heino (et al.)

Soziale Arbeit aus einer (erweiterten) Perspektive der Systemtheorie Niklas Luhmanns

Der systemtheoretische Konstruktivismus: Eine postmoderne Bezugstheorie Sozialer Arbeit

Ontologischer, Sozialwissenschaftlicher und Sozialarbeitswissenschaftlicher Systemismus — Ein integratives Paradigma der Sozialen Arbeit

Marxismus als materialistisch-dialektische Systemtheorie

Systemische Ansätze im Jugendamt — Chancen und Grenzen konstruktivistisch-systemischer Ansätze in der Sozialen Arbeit am Beispiel der Jugendwohlfahrt

Entwicklung Sozialer Arbeit in der täglichen Praxis — Das Erfinden von Theorien und die Überprüfung ihrer Wirkungen

Fragen, mögliche Antworten und Entscheidungen im Hinblick auf die Konzeption oder Konstruktion von (system) theoretischen Ansätzen

Der Mensch im System — eine entscheidende Theoriedisposition

In diesem Treff würde ich es keinen Tag aushalten! — Eine Fallschilderung mit Kommentaren

Empowerment, skills, and values: a comparative study of nurses and social workers

This article focuses on social workers and nurses who complement each other's work in providing health care services to their patients. The professional literature suggests that understanding the professional differences between social workers and nurses may lead to more collaboration between these groups. This study empirically compares empowerment, skills, and values of social workers (n=213) and nurses (n=152). Nurses reported higher scores in all empowerment and value variables. Nurses also claimed to use more therapeutic and communication skills, and social workers reported the use of more social action skills. The differences in empowerment, skills and values between social workers and nurses are discussed in light of their different professional roles and work environments.

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Soziale Arbeit als Menschenrechtsprofession

Christian Spatscheck

Zusammenfassung

Zwölf Thesen zur Fragestellung, wie das professionelle Konzept einer Sozialen Arbeit als Menschenrechtsprofession inhaltlich begründet und praktisch umgesetzt werden kann.

Stichworte

Christian Spatscheck * 1971 Dr., Diplompädagoge und Diplom-Sozialarbeiter, Vertretungsprofessor für Didaktik und Methodik der Sozialpädagogik an der FH Düsseldorf.

Nutzen Wie kann ein ethischer Anspruch in der Sozialen Arbeit durch die Menschenrechte fachlich begründet werden?

Das Wichtigste in Kürze Menschenrechte als zentraler Bezug einer fachlich selbstbestimmten Sozialen Arbeit.

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JOURNAL ISSUE 17.4

NEOLIBERALISM AND THE CONSEQUENCES FOR SOCIAL WORK

Studiengang Sozialarbeit Studiengangsleitung SDL

(Soziale Dienstleistungen fпїЅr Menschen mit Betreuungsbedarf)

FH OпїЅ Studienbetriebs GmbH

An attempt to define neoliberalism

Coined by the economists Friedrich August von Hayek, Wilhelm RпїЅpke, Walter Eucken, an others at a conference in Paris in 1938, the term neoliberalism was developed as an economic counter-concept to Keynesianism. [1] The economic theory of John M. Keynes stated that the deficits of capitalism were in the inability of the market to set up an effective production and distribution system which would ensure security for the whole of the population. In view of this inability, Keynes claimed that complementary intervention by the state was necessary. [2]

Although Friedrich A. von Hayek can be seen as the founder of neoliberal ideas, there is no one school of neoliberal thought. On the contrary, there is a manifold, institutionalized network, where different manifestations may exist side by side. The central theory of neoliberalism is based on neoclassic theory and the monetarist principles of the Chicago school. Negt describes neoliberalism as capitalism which has been freed from all democratic and social inhibitions and scruples:

Nowadays, for the first time, capitalism finds itself in a situation in which the logic of capital works in exactly the way that Marx described. For the first time the logic of capital has been freed from all the inhibitions which have long been applied both internally and externally. [3]

Neoliberalism can be described as an economic project for the capitalist elite, the main points of which will be described in the following section.

Main elements of neoliberal thought

The economization of all areas of life – the universal organization of the market

The principle of the neoliberal economy is claimed to be valid for all areas of life. Altvater refers to the imperialism of the economy. [4] All areas of life are subject to the logic of the market, the logic of economic optimization and the individual maximization of utilization. Even the individual is seen in the light of the logic of the market – transformed into human capital. The individual becomes an entrepreneur. A person becomes a firm, to a constantly self-optimising пїЅI, Ltd.пїЅ. The relationship to him- or herself and others is seen only in terms of money.

The lean state: less state, more private enterprise?

According to neoliberal thought, it is not the job of the state to act as an entrepreneur. The public sector should be limited in favour of the private sector. Privatization of nationalized companies is encouraged as well as that of national monopolies and holdings in telecommunications, transport, energy, and water industries. The state has to fulfil the tasks defined by the neoliberal economists. Its function is to ensure and secure the conditions necessary for the free market. Under the neoliberal concept, the welfare state becomes a national competitive state whose function is, through its policy, to ensure that it remains competitive in the world market. The state therefore furthers neoliberal private business interests.

Neoliberal thinking endorses globalization as the encouragement of free trade between the states, either through global organizations such as the WTO, with its agreements such as GATT, GATS or TRIPS, whether supporting free trade or special business zones. Borders should be opened for the global transport of goods, services, capital, and investment. Regulations and laws which hinder free trade, such as protective duties or state subsidies to certain branches of the economy, should be eliminated, as they are an obstacle to investment. Globalization is seen as a process of natural growth which forces industrial states to lower both social and environmental standards in order to remain competitive in the world market. The dismantling of social services and the reduction of the state deficits, which are seen as a handicap to performance, are a means to this end. However, these measures are only carried out for as long as they serve the purpose of neoliberal economies: countries of the Third World are required to provide free trade, and at the same time protective duties are set on goods from these countries in the USA, and also agriculture in the EU is highly subsidized.

Deregulation does not mean the relinquishing of state regulations, but rather that they concentrate on supporting competitive economic performance and profit from capital. In order to encourage investment and competitiveness, taxes for companies are reduced and obstacles such as worker representatives and state intervention are minimized. Regulations concerning health and safety or environmental protection are seen both as obstacles to investment and limiting the freedom of the market for the entrepreneur.

What kind of freedom for the entrepreneur is required? The freedom to exploit workers? The freedom of the wolf to poach among the free chickens in the free chicken coop? Unlimited autonomy for those owning money and the means of production is to be enforced against the interests of the majority of the population.

Neoliberalism and social policy

In neoliberal thought poverty is seen as a destiny brought upon oneself; it is basically a just punishment for refusing to work or for the inability to sell oneself or oneпїЅs work successfully on the free market. Thereby, the state and enterprises are relieved of the responsibility for realising ethical or social principles as this is solely the responsibility of the individual: пїЅIndeed a major aim of the liberal is to leave the ethical problem for the individual to wrestle withпїЅ, according to Friedman. [5]

Creating mass unemployment or leaving people to starve is not seen as a lack of help, but as a side effect of the free market and as such is beyond criticism. [6] The only social responsibility of enterprises is, according to Friedman, to make profit for the shareholders:

There are few developmental tendencies which can undermine the foundations of our society as thoroughly as the idea that businesses can have any other responsibility other than to make as much profit as possible for their shareholders. [7]

Friedrich A. von Hayek claims not to understand the term пїЅsocialпїЅ at all:

I have spent more than 10 years searching intensively for the meaning of the term пїЅsocial justiceпїЅ. I have failed in this or, rather, I have come to the conclusion that the term has no meaning for a society of free people пїЅ Social does not refer to a definable ideal, but today only serves to take away the meaning of the regulations of free society, to which we all have to be grateful for our affluence. Even if some people will be horrified to hear it, I have to say that I cannot think пїЅsociallyпїЅ, because I do not understand what that means . [8]

Demands for social justice limit the right to unlimited private property. Altruism and solidarity are described as low collective morals and tribal instincts, and according to DarwinпїЅs social evolution theory they are even a rebellion against higher standards of civilization and to be seen as amoral. [9]

The formation of the neoliberal project

The formation of the neoliberal project – after the downfall of the classical liberalism in the first third of the 20th century – can be traced to the 1930s when economists came together in 1938 at the aforementioned conference in Paris, under the leadership of Friedrich von Hayek, in order to found a counter-concept to Keynesianism. In 1947, Hayek founded the Mont Pelerin Society as a think tank in order to propagate and further his ideas.

As a consequence, an international network of foundations (e.g. the Heritage Foundation in 1973 in Washington DC), institutes (the Institute of Economic Affairs , 1971, in London), research centres, print media, academics, and PR agents was founded, devoted to the cause of neoliberal ideology. The political breakthrough was achieved with the help of a series of Nobel Prize winners for Economics – awarded for the first time in 1969. Among those were a number of neoliberal economists such as Friederich von Hayek in 1974 and Milton Friedman in 1976. [10] In this way neoliberal thinking achieved control of the discourse in economics and was exported into the area of practical politics and among the movers and shakers in the media influencing all areas of life.

Chile was the laboratory in which neoliberal economic policies were first tested. From 1975, the so-called Chicago Boys, the representatives of the Chicago school, were able to undertake a neoliberal restructuring with the aid of the military junta of General Pinochet. The Chicago Boys under the tutelage of Milton Friedman accepted an extreme, authoritarian regime in support of their plan to introduce their model of an economy. PinochetпїЅs regime was considered extremely positive as a vehicle for the application of this model. De Castro, a member of this working group, was quoted in Il Mercurio (15 February 1976) as saying: пїЅthe real freedom of the person is only guaranteed by an authoritarian regime, which exercises its power by means of norms which are the same for allпїЅ. [11]

With the entry into office of Margaret Thatcher in 1979 and the election of Ronald Reagan as US President in 1980, the neoliberals achieved the transfer of their project from the periphery to the centre. Reagan and Reagonomics and Thatcher and Thatcherism were the first significant political actors to apply neoliberal doctrines in industrial states. The breakdown of Soviet Communism was decisive in establishing neoliberalism as the dominant economic ideology.

The construction of a consensus – the acceptance of neoliberal thought

The pushing through of the neoliberal project was in the end due to the successful пїЅFabrication of a ConsensusпїЅ. [12] The representatives of neoliberalism sought a more powerful grip on social definitions and ways of thinking. Poisonous tales about social abuses, debates about saving money and resources, and slogans were generalized and permeated the public consciousness. Gradually, both the individual and society were subjected to and accepted this ideological transformation.

In this sense, the mental poison of blackmail using slogans reflecting attitudes drives numerous economies into a race based on undercutting the competition. Talk of debates about savings is being misused to the shattering of the social state, and the talk of the abuse of the social system and of scroungers is a diversion from the really guilty party. It makes the victims the offenders, not the multinationals avoiding tax and the multimillionaires ruining the community. The victims themselves are being turned into the guilty: the unemployed, those on social security, are responsible for the empty public purse. Politicians and managers speak about having to пїЅ tighten our beltsпїЅ about пїЅliving beyond our meansпїЅ while they themselves have filled their pockets. [13]

Labour law and social rights such as protection against unlawful dismissal, unemployment benefit, sick pay – not the private fortune of multimillionaires – have become the possession of the unexplained dismantling of laws protecting employees, while at the same time no attempt is made to make savings on the bureaucracy disciplining the unemployed and those on social security, or on the EU administration. The barbed slogans of neoliberal ideology are designed to undermine relations of social solidarity and to transform the solidarity to a profit-based dependence on those above and ruthlessness to those below. [14]

Social manifestations considered as negative are no longer denied, but rather regarded as socially unavoidable conditions, the so-called пїЅmaterial constraintsпїЅ. Mrs ThatcherпїЅs bon mot пїЅThere is no alternativeпїЅ underlines this alleged inevitability. Political dealing which is driven by specific interests is passed off as the unavoidable operation of anonymous forces pointing in the direction of the only possible and sensible way out.

These negative events bolstered by euphemistic forms of speech are represented as desirable: everything will be made flexible and rationalized. Impediments to investment will be removed, companies must become leaner and fitter, employees must be пїЅreleasedпїЅ. The worker, who is always available for work, can be called up at any time on an hourly or daily basis. Workers must become fitter, i.e. more productive, and for that they must be content with less pay.

The concept of reform which was associated with the former plan aimed at achieving more social justice, better educational opportunities and a social safety net is now a synonym for cuts in social services. Neoliberal myths and dogmas join up with these neoliberal toxic notions. It emerges as a type of new world religion with a claim to absolute validity, which is otherwise associated with various forms of religious fundamentalism. These dogmas and myths are reflected in slogans such as пїЅWe can no longer afford the welfare stateпїЅ, пїЅIf the economy works well, everybody is better offпїЅ, and пїЅEconomic growth produces jobsпїЅ.

All of these toxic ideas and myths are chanted like mantras by politicians, economic experts and representatives of the media as long as the falsehood gives the lie to the truth. Bourdieu describes this process as пїЅthe symbolic imprint . the journalists and ordinary citizens have had this repeated, which in a targeted manner has been brought into circulation by certain intellectualsпїЅ. [15] This explains why these septic concepts are so deeply anchored in the consciousness of the population, although their empirical experience of what is actually happening and numerous studies contradict them: [16]

The question concerning the ability to finance the welfare state is not a question of inadequate resources but of political will and distribution.
The current gulf between rich and poor – not only within the state but also between states – contradicts the dogma that a flourishing economy is a blessing for all and that growth brings jobs.
If companies make a profit, share prices rise, which means that not everybody is better off – only the boards of directors, the managers and the shareholders. Despite this, workers are laid off.
If the welfare and woe of an economy depends on the low wages or the additional costs of pension and social insurance payments, as the neoliberals argue, then countries such as Bangladesh and Somalia would have had full employment long ago and would be living in luxury.

Consequences for social work

The dismantling of the welfare state

One consequence of neoliberal politics is the dismantling of the welfare state and the deepening of the gulf between rich and poor, not only between states but also within states. Ulrich Beck observed in his book The Risk Society (1986) a social elevator effect which had lifted all classes and social strata together as one. In respect of the later development of the global community since 1986, it is more accurate to speak of a paternoster effect: to the extent that as one manages to rise, the other falls. [17] As a consequence, new forms of social difficulty have emerged and with them more tasks for social work, but in a context where resources have been either frozen or cut.

Economization of social work – new public management

Under the пїЅeconomization of social workпїЅ, I understand the reality that social work has been subjected to the logic of the profit motive and the market. This is connected to strengthened methods and concepts of business management and running social work as a private company which has found an entry with its promises of more effectiveness and efficiency, and linked to that the visible improvement of quality in social work.

Since the beginning of the 1990s in Austria, managerialism has penetrated the area of community social policy under the label of пїЅNew Public ManagementпїЅ (NPM) (the new control model of targeted management). NPM follows management rationalism in which public administration is regarded as a type of service industry in which there is an attempt to apply the instruments of modern management.

Competition instead of solidarity

Social associations and institutions have been transformed into companies based on managerial thinking and action by the use of performance-related contracts and invitations to competitive tender. This has led to the economization of institutions in which the philosophy of cost efficiency leads in turn to competitive relations between the social service organizations. Competition, in this context, has thus taken on a greater significance without sufficient public awareness that to a degree this has a destructive effect. Community organizations compete with each other and also increasingly with commercial suppliers of services. The central, provincial or local governments who pay the bills hence have expectations that increased competition will improve the efficiency of the staff and the effectiveness of the service provided, which above all will result in lowered costs.

This competition can lead to пїЅcreamingпїЅ effects in the support system in the area of marginal groups, and specifically to the displacement of the weakest clients to the benefit of those more easily cared for, with positive results for these clients. Only those are treated and advised, those who have not crudely and negligently been the cause of their own plight, and for whom the sponsor can be charged in a cost-effective way. Accordingly, those responsible for supporting social rights become the individual purchasers of social services, who have to pay for these services which are determined by supply and demand.

Public goods, which the welfare state legally guarantees its citizens in respect of social provision ensuring life-conditions fit for human beings, have become goods which have to be bought. Citizens with inalienable rights have become economic citizens who have rights only over what they can buy. Social workпїЅs clients have mutated into customers and as such they are themselves responsible for the causes of their difficulties, but above all for the solutions to their problems and with that their success or failure.

The economy before professionalism

In the analysis of the economic processes of social work since the 1990s too little attention has been paid to the fact that the point of departure is not the well-being of the client and an improvement in the quality of the social work but more the pressure to save resources. The economization of social work is a kind of Trojan Horse. Professional social work is used to follow aims inimical to the profession: cost savings instead of help related to need in promoting conditions of life fit for human beings.

Strict housekeeping, costs not professional diagnosis, principally determines what is said to be useful, efficient and feasible; as a rule making successful savings is placed before success in providing help. Social work is being driven by the logic of the administration of finance which finds expression in competitive contracts, the formalization of advisory and supervisory services as a product, similarly as in the standardized production of these services: instead of building a relationship with the client, social work is all about the most efficient possible management of the case. The result is that the social work activity and everything connected with it neglects the clients. [18]

The dynamic welfare state – пїЅworkfareпїЅ instead of welfare

In place of an active welfare state, a dynamic welfare state is emerging. By means of the neoliberal neologisms such as пїЅPromote and demandпїЅ, пїЅHelp only for the really needyпїЅ, пїЅGet people moving towards self-help and using their own initiativeпїЅ, and пїЅan end to the state benefit mentalityпїЅ, unemployment and poverty, according to the Social Darwinist canon, have become problems of the individual, of character weakness and a lack of readiness to perform in a job. In a crisis of unemployment where jobs but not those willing to work are missing, the pressure to work is strengthened by reference to such slogans without any attempt to improve the life chances of the socially disadvantaged.

Thus, the community becomes divided into a welfare state market on the one hand and a charity state on the other. Those citizens who can afford to, buy social security (i.e. care for the aged). In contrast, the пїЅworkfareпїЅ state offers only a minimum of service protecting people from starving and freezing, who otherwise would be handed over to private charitable organizations. Although reference is made to пїЅpersonal responsibilityпїЅ, what is meant is an extra burden for those working and those receiving the lowest pensions.

пїЅActivationпїЅ amounts in a broader context to a kind of authoritarian withdrawal of social rights: help to find work is transformed into threats of forced labour. Hence, the welfare state becomes a goal-oriented пїЅworkfareпїЅ state which focuses on the functions of repression and social exclusion. [19]

The reaction of social workers

The reaction of social workers to the economization of the social sphere is varied. Kleve speaks of the ambivalent relation between social work and economization: [20]

The neo-liberal transformation of the welfare state community cannot from the perspective of the social worker be explicitly condemned nor greeted with pleasure . [21]

Dimmel refers to an adaptation position which does not criticize the economization of social work in the sense of its effectiveness, but rather the neoliberal understanding of it. [22]

Another strategy has described the economization as a largely untested adoption of business concepts and apparatus applied to social work. Neoliberal dogma is repeated parrot fashion, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the neoliberal economy is relatively uncritically presented without reflecting on where efficiency and effectiveness really stand in the equation. The public and private sponsors of social service departments bring in consultants who have no idea about social work but who believe they are qualified to evaluate whether jobs should be cut or not. Dimmel describes these cases as an assimilation position. [23]

A final reaction is the renewal of the socially-critical political function of social work. [24] Social work is understood as a пїЅhuman rights professionпїЅ as Staub-Bernasconi calls it. [25] Pierre Bourdieu offers the view that in this context social work is a refutation of the пїЅneoliberal invasionпїЅ oriented towards social justice. [26]

Peter Drucker, one of the most renowned management gurus, defined the difference between effectiveness and efficiency as follows: пїЅ To be effective is to work on the right things; to be efficient is to do the things right; to be efficient and effective means doing the right things, rightпїЅ. [27] Drawing on this definition, I would like to ask the proponents of the neoliberal economy the following questions:

How effective and efficient is the world economy dominated by neoliberal ideology when 18,000 children starve every day, while at the same time food surpluses are destroyed? [28]
How effective and/or efficient is an economy which sees to the production and export of huge amounts of food in Third World countries as feed for European livestock while the local populations vegetate below subsistence level and to some extent starve?
How effective is a global economy which is destroying the environment and ruthlessly exploits labour in the interests of profit maximization and which is also responsible for 186 million children working in conditions not far from slavery to increase the profits of multinational companies? [29]

Other examples of how efficiently labour is exploited, the environment ravaged and public goods privatized can be found in detail in The Black Book – Privatization or Company Brands. [30] Almost daily we are informed, often by the media, how money is efficiently and effectively squandered by various companies. Is it really necessary for social work to orientate itself to these standards and lower itself to the level of neoliberal efficiency and effectiveness which is contemptuous of mankind? Social work should always raise the question of whether it is doing the right things and whether it is doing them right, and is should also reflect on and evaluate them in a scientific and professional manner. Yet this should not be under the overall control of managers and business management fetishists for whom efficiency means profit maximization and effectiveness means only to пїЅdo the job as economically as possibleпїЅ.

The logic of social work is not the logic of the market and profit. Whether or not someone receives the means to lead a life fit to be lived must not be decided by the market. Social work is not a service with the same character as saleable goods, but the result of the collective effort of all involved – social worker and client – in a simultaneous arrangement and management of circumstances which make the success of the endeavours more likely. Business management is at most a complementary science and must not be allowed to become the science leading social work.

Social work as an integral part of social policy must be understood as more than a repair company for the amelioration of negative social and economic consequences. For social work this means that in the context of the analysis of causes of social problems and their solution social workers must direct their attention towards structural social factors, publicize them, and propagate them in current socio-political debates, and thereby construct a critical, alternative public domain. A better-integrated network of social workers and social institutions could generate pressure on responsible politicians so that social workersпїЅ concerns are noted and taken seriously. A central aim of social work must be the capacity to resist any further worsening of the basic social conditions in the form of cuts in social services. [31] For the IFSW (International Federation of Social Work), this is also a central task of the professional operation of social work:

Social workers have the duty to draw the attention of their clients, decision makers, politicians and the public to situations in which resources are inadequate or the distribution of resources standards and practices is oppressive, unjust or damaging. [32]

Altvater, Elmar (1981): Der gar nicht diskrete Charme der neoliberalen Konterrevolution. Prokla 44, pp. 5–23.

Blankenburg, Stephanie (1997): Der Neoliberalismus als theoretisches Konzept und Wegbereiter des modernen Rechtsextremismus. Freier Markt und MeinungsfпїЅhrerschaft. In: Schui, H., Ptak, R., Blankenburg, S., Bachmann, G. & Kotzur, D. (eds.): Wollt ihr den totalen Markt? Der Neoliberalismus und die extreme Rechte. MпїЅnchen, pp. 53–111.

Bourdieu, Pierre (1998): Der Mythos пїЅGlobalisierungпїЅ und der europпїЅische Sozialstaat. In: Bourdieu, P.: Gegenfeuer. Wortmeldungen im Dienste des Widerstands gegen die neoliberale Invasion. Konstanz, pp. 39–52.

Butterwegge, Christoph (2006): Globalisierung, demographischer Wandel und Sozialarbeit im Wohlfahrtsstaat, URL: www.sozialearbeit.at; butterwegge_wandelsozialarbeit.pdf (7.01.2007).

Chomsky, Noam & Achbar, Mark (1996): Wege zur intellektuellen Selbstverteidigung. Medien, Demokratie und die Fabrikation von Konsens. MпїЅnchen.

Die Armutskonferenz/ATTAC/BEIGEWUM (2004): Was ReichtпїЅmer vermпїЅgen. Gewinner und VerlierInnen in europпїЅischen Wohlfahrtsstaaten. Wien.

Dimmel, Nikolaus (2006): Verbetriebswirtschaftlichung, Privatisierung und sozialarbeiterisches (Doppel)Mandat – ein Bermuda-Dreieck der sozialen Arbeit? URL: www.sozialearbeit.at (7.1.2007).

Dixon, Keith (2000): Die Evangelisten des Marktes. Die britischen Intellektuellen und der Thatcherismus. Konstanz.

Food and Agriculture Organization (2005): The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.

Friedman, Milton (1962): Capitalism and Freedom, Chicago; zit. n. RпїЅsch, Michael (o.J.): Was verstehen wir unter Neoliberalismus? URL: tiss.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de/webroot/sp/barrios/themeA2a-dt.html - 14k – (7.1.2007).

Friedman, Milton (1971): Kapitalismus und Freiheit. Stuttgart.

Gerlach, Thomas (2000): Denkgifte. Psychologischer Gehalt neoliberaler Wirtschaftstheorie und gesellschaftspolitischer Diskurse, Dissertation, UniversitпїЅt Bremen, URL: www.kritische-psychologie.de/texte/tg2000a.pdf (7.1.2007).

Haug, Wolfgang Friedrich (1996): Das neoliberale Projekt, der mпїЅnnliche Arbeitsbegriff und die fпїЅllige Erneuerung des Geschlechtervertrags. Das Argument 217, pp. 683–696.

Haupert, Bernhard (2005): Gegenrede: Wider die neoliberale Invasion der Sozialen Arbeit, URL: http://www.qualitative-sozialforschung.de/haupert.htm (7.1.2007).

Hennecke, Hans JпїЅrg (2000): Friedrich August von Hayek. Die Tradition der Freiheit. DпїЅsseldorf.

IFSW (2004): Ethics in social work, Adelaide, URL: www.sozialarbeit.at (7.1.2007).

International Labour Organization (2002): Jedes Kind zпїЅhlt. Genf.

Kleve, Heiko (2003): Sozialarbeitswissenschaft, Systemtheorie und Postmoderne. Freiburg i.B.

Kleve, Heiko (2006): Systemisches Case-Management. SiпїЅ 1, xxx–xxx.

Kruse, Jan (2004): Soziale Arbeit als disziplinierende Simulation. Eine kritische Analyse der пїЅkonomisierung Sozialer Arbeit. Soziale Arbeit 7, pp. 256–262.

Kulbach, Roderich (2000): пїЅkonomisierung sozialer Arbeit. Soziale Arbeit 1, pp. 16–21.

Kurz, Robert (2001): Schwarzbuch Kapitalismus. Ein Abgesang auf die Marktwirtschaft. MпїЅnchen.

Lindenberg, Michael (2000): Von der Sorge zur HпїЅrte. Kritische BeitrпїЅge zur пїЅkonomisierung Sozialer Arbeit. Bielefeld.

Negt, Oskar (1997): NeuzugпїЅnge zum MarxпїЅschen Denken. Z.: Zeitschrift Marxistische Erneuerung 30, pp. 38–46.

RпїЅsch, Michael (o.J.): Was verstehen wir unter Neoliberalismus, URL: tiss.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de/webroot/sp/barrios/themeA2a-dt.html - 14k – (7.1.2007).

Schmidt, Roland & Klie, Thomas (1999): Folgen der пїЅkonomisierung des Sozialen. Theorie und Praxis der Sozialen Arbeit 1, pp. 14–17.

Schnurr, Stefan (2005): Managerielle Deprofessionalisierung? Neue Praxis 3, pp. 239–242.

Staub-Bernasconi, Silvia (1995): Systemtheorie, soziale Probleme und Soziale Arbeit: lokal, national, international oder: vom Ende der Bescheidenheit. Bern/Stuttgart/Wien.

Stiglitz, Josef (2003): Schatten der Globalisierung. MпїЅnchen.

ValdпїЅs, Juan Gabriel (1995): PinochetпїЅs Economists. The Chicago School in Chile. Cambridge/New York/Melbourne.

WIFO (2006): WIFO-WeiпїЅbuch. Mehr BeschпїЅftigung durch Wachstum auf Basis von Innovation und Qualifikation, Wien, URL: http://test.wifo.ac.at/wwa/servlet/wwa.upload.DownloadServlet/bdoc/S_2006_WEISSBUCH_ZUSAMMENFASSUNG_27639$.PDF

Wilke, Gerhard (2002): John Maynard Keynes. Frankfurt a. Main.

Wilken, Udo (1998): Faszination und Elend der пїЅkonomisierung des Sozialen. BlпїЅtter der Wohlfahrtspflege 11–12, pp. 226–230.

[1] cf. Hennecke (2000): pp. 137–139; Dixon (2000): pp. 7–9.

[2] cf. (more comprehensively): Wilke (2002): pp. 30–126.

[4] cf. Altvater (1981): p. 15.

[5] Friedman (1962): p. 12.

[6] cf. Gerlach (2000): p. 1 ff.

[7] Friedman (1971): p. 176.

[8] Hayek (1979): p. 16, cited in Kurz (2001): p. 752.

[9] cf. Blankenburg (1997): p. 79.

[10] cf. Michalitsch (2002): p. 1 ff.

[11] Cited acc. ValdпїЅs (1995): p. 51.

[13] c f. Gerlach (2000): p. 5.

[14] cf. Gerlach (2000): p. 5.

[15] Bourdieu (1998): p. 39.

[16] cf. u.a. WIFO-WeiпїЅbuch (2006); Reimon & Felber (2003); Stiglitz (2003) ; Die Armutskonferenz/ATTAC/BEIGEWUM (2004).

[17] cf. Butterwegge (2006): p. 6.

[18] cf. Schnurr (2005): p. 239 ff.

[24] cf. Haupert (2002); Lindenberg (2000); Kruse (2004).

[25] Staub-Bernasconi (1995): p. 57 ff.

[28] cf. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) (2005): p. 6 ff.

[29] c f. International Labour Organization (ILO) (2002).

[30] Werner & Weiss (2006) ; Reimon & Felber (2003).

пятница, 25 мая 2018 г.

staub_bernasconi

JOURNAL ISSUE 9

Social Work Theories and Risk: A German Perspective

Birgit Dümmer

Rita Brodwolf

Peter Erath

IUC Dubrovnik: Social work theories and methodologies

1. Social work in the tradition of humanities: minimizing risk through professional experience

2. Social work in the tradition of the enlightenment (critical theories): allowing and communicating risk within negotiating processes between social worker and client

3. Social work in a systemic-proceeding perspective (Silvia Staub-Bernasconi): managing risks with ethical and professional values

4. Social work in the tradition of system theory (Luhmann) : standardizing risk assessment and risk management procedures

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пятница, 25 мая 2018 г.